Land, Sea, and Sky
by TheSeer
Summary: Sora and his friends have come home. And I've come with them, watching from Sora's eyes. It's a strange way of having friends. [Riku x Sora, Sora x Kairi, Roxas x Namine, all mild]
1. The Land

Riku sits on his little island, and watches Sora. I don't think Sora notices, but I do.

It's hard to spot, because most of the time, the three of them are together. Sora is so happy to have Riku and Kairi back, he'd play with them all day if he could. But neither of them can match his energy, so sometimes they go off and do something more restful than Sora's almost frantic schedule of running-races-catching-fish-building-rafts-sword-practice. Kairi spends her breaks looking for seashells, or flowers. Riku spends his watching Sora.

I think Riku's the type who obsesses about things. I saw it in his eyes the first time we met. Being in Organization XIII taught me to recognize obsession when I see it. (Actually, being in the Organization taught me to recognize just about every kind of crazy there is; it was like living in a psychology textbook.) I think the thing stuck in Riku's head now, that he thinks about over and over and can't stop, is Sora's heart.

I can't blame him, really. I never imagined it would be like this. Of course Riku wants to touch Sora's incredible joy. And for him, the strength would be almost as good, the way Sora can forgive anything in an instant, because he knows nothing can really hurt him. I think Riku needs forgiveness like that. I think it heals something in him that's been broken.

Riku tries to keep his funny obsession with Sora a secret. I don't know why. It's not like Sora would be angry - Sora's never angry. But it's only from a distance that he watches Sora. He waits until Kairi's somewhere else and Sora's asleep to touch Sora's hair.

The funny part is, Sora's faking it. He likes the comfort and closeness of Riku's fingers brushing softly through his hair. The first time, he said something about it, and Riku told him he'd been dreaming. So now Sora knows Riku won't do it unless he pretends he's asleep. He usually does fall asleep eventually, warm and safe, feeling Riku's hand and Riku's eyes.

Maybe Kairi knows, too. Maybe she's not always as far away as Riku thinks, when he does that. I don't know, I can't see when Sora's eyes are closed. But I think it would be hard for these three to keep secrets from each other.

They let Riku think it's a secret, though. They let him believe he can hide an obsession with the light the way he did his obsession with the dark. It's obvious to me, it shines through like a sun in a paper bag. But they pretend they can't see it, let him keep a few secrets, give him time to heal.


	2. The Sea

I don't understand Kairi. Riku is easy, because he's so much like me. Sora's harder, but I share his heart. Kairi, though. . .

It's almost like she's missing a part. Like she's some weird kind of Nobody. Something's just not there. She doesn't miss it, though, like a Nobody misses his heart. She's peaceful, and even I can recognize the light in her, shining like water. I feel Namine in there, too, but I never really understood her, either.

The boys' lives circle around Kairi, even though she's less interesting than either of them. I think it has something to do with her calm. Even Kairi's teasing calms Sora down, though I thought the point of teasing was that it's funny to upset someone a little bit. Riku seems to drink that calm, sometimes, like he was dying of thirst. Like she's the only one who can quiet his mind, when it's spinning through darkness and bad memories. Like Riku thinks he needs her to keep him from going crazy. Maybe he does.

She goes swimming with Sora these days, though she probably shouldn't. Sora doesn't seem like a great swimmer until he takes off his shoes. Those things fill with water like the buckets they are (not that I can talk about big feet,) but Sora does well enough with them on that he usually doesn't bother taking them off. When he does, he swims like a dolphin. I've noticed that Riku never agrees to a swimming race when Sora's barefoot.

But when Sora says he's going for a long swim, Kairi comes along. She knows he's going to go further out than she'd ever dare alone, she knows she doesn't have his endurance or his strength. I don't know if she feels left behind, or wants to be alone with him, or just wants to do something dangerous, or what. Of course, Sora's as good a lifeguard as she could want, so I guess it's not that risky. Still, though.

That was when they first kissed, during one of those swims, treading water most of a mile from shore. Not the place I would have picked. They were resting, or rather, Kairi was resting and Sora was helping her stay afloat. "Sorry, Sora," she said.

"I don't mind," Sora said. "It's fun having you along, and you're definitely getting better." Kairi smiled and looked to the side. Was she embarrassed about something, maybe? Does she get embarrassed? "I'll always keep that promise, you know," Sora said.

"You shouldn't have to," Kairi answered. I have no idea what they were talking about. "Whenever you go off into the distance, I'm coming too." That was when she kissed him, just a quick brush across the lips. Anything longer and we all probably would have sunk. Sora barely had time to realize what happened, let alone enjoy it, but the kiss made him happy anyway. I was just confused, trying to figure out if Namine had kissed me, too.

"Okay," Sora said. Then, after a minute or two, "We'd better go back, before Riku thinks we drowned. Ready?" Kairi nodded, and Sora let her go, to follow him again.


	3. The Sky

Sometimes, at night, Sora tries to talk to me. It doesn't go very well, because he's bad at listening, but I like that he tries.

"Roxas? Are you there?" He always begins that way, as if maybe I'd be somewhere else. He's on his back porch, looking up at the stars.

"I'm here." He looks to the side, as though I were standing next to him. That's fine if it helps him, though since I see what he sees it's a little weird.

"I guess we're leaving again, huh?" he says.

"Yeah." A letter came from Mickey today. "That sucks, huh?" He doesn't hear me. Just another random thought that can't reach the surface of his mind.

"Kairi's so excited," he says, "she says she can't wait to help us fight."

"Yeah, I know. I was there, too, remember?"

"Riku and I are gonna have to protect her, at first. But she learns fast." He studies the stars. "It's always so weird to look up and realize that's where I was all that time. And tomorrow I'm going back."

"Damn it, DiZ was right. You _are_ too nice for your own good." I hate agreeing with that bastard, but it's true. "This is your home, Sora. You really like it here. You're allowed to be sad about leaving."

Maybe Sora heard a little bit of that, because he frowns, and says, "It'll be an adventure. Maybe I'll see Donald and Goofy again."

"You're allowed to be angry. Even scared, if you want." I can't resist the joke: "I promise I won't tell anyone."

No answer. He didn't hear at all. Maybe he didn't want to.

"Aargh. Forget you, then. _I_ really like it here. First Twilight Town, now this. Everything good I have gets taken away." Forgetting, I try to bang a fist on the porch railing. Sora's hand twitches, and he looks at it.

"I don't know if you can really hear me," he says. "I don't know if you'll ever be able to really help me again, like you did with my Drives." I wonder when he finally put that together. "But I can feel you, sometimes." He doesn't say any more, but we share a heart. I know I confuse him, disturb him, keep him from ever feeling lonely.

"I think I will," I say. "Help you again, I mean. I feel like I've still got stuff to do, you know? Like my fight isn't done."

I don't know where that thought came from. Maybe it came from our heart, because Sora says, "Yeah. Good."

But _damn_ I don't want to fight anymore. I want to stay here. It's strange, watching Sora's life like this, but in my heart it's _my_ life. I don't miss Pence and Hayner and Olette so much, when Sora and Riku and Kairi are hanging out and goofing around in a place that feels like summer forever.

For the second time, my tears run down Sora's cheeks, as he looks up at the waiting stars.


End file.
